MOBILE, Ala. – Jesse Ortiz has been named head volleyball coach at the University of South Alabama it was announced by Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann Tuesday.
He comes to South from Clemson — where he is in his first year as an assistant for the Tigers, who are currently 10-7 overall — after helping three other programs make a combined eight NCAA Tournament appearances at the NCAA Division I and II levels over the last 12 years.
"We are very excited to have Jesse join Jaguar Nation as our head volleyball coach," said Erdmann. "We had a very competitive group of candidates from across the nation, of which Jesse rose above. He has advanced through various levels of collegiate volleyball while being a key part of programs that achieved championships and postseason play. His leadership style, in addition to his communication and interpersonal skills, enhance his ability to recruit, train and prepare student-athletes for success."
"From the very beginning of the process Dr. Erdmann was phenomenal, I could sense his leadership and it was evident to me that this is the type of program that I want to be involved with," Ortiz said. "Once I arrived and was able to see how first-class he and the rest of the search committee was about looking at some things that are important to me — I'm a soon-to-be father with a beautiful wife — everything exuded that there is a family atmosphere to go along with the professionalism I saw throughout the process."
Prior to joining the staff at Clemson, Ortiz was an assistant for three seasons at Michigan State. During his time with the program the Spartans recorded a winning record each year highlighted by a 23-9 mark — which included going 14-6 in the Big Ten Conference — in 2017 after advancing to a regional final in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1996 campaign.
He served as an assistant and was the recruiting coordinator at Miami (Ohio) for three years before going to MSU, helping the Redhawks go 66-27 (71.0%) during that span. In his first year with the program, MU posted a 21-10 record and advanced to the championship match of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, going 21-10 again the next fall. In 2016, the Redhawks reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight seasons after claiming the MAC title and finishing with a 24-7 mark.
Ortiz began his coaching career as an assistant at Sonoma (Calif.) State in 2007, and in four seasons helped the team go 76-39 (66.1%) while making three appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. That included finishing 23-7 in 2008 and posting a 23-8 overall mark the following year. He then served as an assistant at Ferris (Mich.) State for three seasons, during which time the Bulldogs went 76-21 (78.4%) while participating in the NCAA Tournament each year. FSU made back-to-back appearances in the regional semifinals in 2011 and '12 — going 27-4 the first season and 24-8 the next — before making it to the regional finals of the event on the way to a 25-9 finish his final season on the staff.
While at Sonoma State, Ortiz also was head coach of the school's men's club team for six seasons from 2004-09. In addition to guiding the squad to the Northern California Collegiate Volleyball League title his first year in charge, he led the Seawolves to the championship match of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association national tournament each of his last three seasons highlighted by winning the championship in his final match in charge of the program.
During his career, Ortiz has worked with 12 All-Americans, had 19 individuals earn all-region recognition and 43 who received all-conference honors. Off the court, his efforts have helped nine student-athletes earn academic recognition from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) with over 100 individuals named to academic all-league teams.
"I think with any program, if you are going to be successful you have to make sure people are sharing in your vision," said Ortiz. "It's easy to say that we all want to win, but to me part of the process of how we go about that is to establish leadership throughout the program; that goes from incoming freshmen to people who have been here before. It's important to empower young women to lead, but also give them the skills to develop those traits. It's not 'my way or the highway,' I like hearing other people's thoughts and collaborating, I find that if you have people who are invested in your program — whether it's because they have a voice or what they do successfully — it brings value to the program.
"I think through constant opportunities for developing leadership we are going to have a chance to be successful."
Ortiz — who also has over 10 years of experience coaching at the club level in both California and Michigan — received his undergraduate degree in art studio from Sonoma State in 2004, adding a master's of business administration degree from Ferris State.
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